The Duke and I went to the Queensland Garden Expo today.  It is a huge event which is held annually in Nambour which is a major town about 30 km from where we live.  We do not go every year, usually about every 3 years.

We checked the program of speakers before we left home so had a definite plan for our visit.  First, we wandered around some of the many exhibits to see what was on offer.  There are so many stalls that it is difficult to take it all in.  We bought 2 nets which are suitable for fruit trees or vegetable gardens.  They are small enough mesh to eliminate fruit fly so we will be using one on the peach tree this year.

Our other purchase was 5 hibiscus plants which we will plant in the garden in front of the house.  We already have 1 hibiscus and are keen to remove some of the other shrubs and make the hibiscus a feature in this bed.

I will tell you more about our purchases in future posts.

We took our drink bottles of water and some mandarins for a snack but we bought some lunch from one of the many food stalls.  We had satay chicken skewers with spiced cous cous.

Then it was time to join the queue for a very popular speaker – Costa Georgiadis from Gardening Australia.  The title of the presentation was, “Growing our food future. Simple ways to participate that bring us all along for the ride. So hang on!” – and hang on we did.  Costa is a passionate and entertaining presenter – even more so in real-life than on television.

It was difficult to capture a photograph as standing still is clearly not one of Costa’s strong points.

He really did wear that beanie!

Warming to his theme…………

And finally, presenting the ‘evidence’ to the judges.

This was the beginning of the presentation, where Costa showed the audience pre-packed, hard-boiled and peeled eggs packaged in a hard plastic case.  The one hour presentation absolutely flew and we really did have to hang on.  This was not a formal, staid lecture but more like a wild ride.

Some of the messages I came away with were:

• We can all make a difference
• Be positive
• Engage with your community
• Be innovative

It can sometimes be difficult to maintain your enthusiasm and passion in the face of the negativity that so often surrounds us but a dose of Costa was just what I needed get get me inspired to continue to push to grow and share food, reduce waste and packaging and encourage others to do the same.